Shattered
by HeatherJS
Summary: When unforeseen circumstances causes Ares to unintentionally leave Xena alone on the one day that he really shouldn't have, Aphrodite quickly lends her expertise to the despairing couple. But will her good intentions bring more harm than good? And how does one truly fix a broken heart?
1. Can't Change Reality

Chapter 1

There were some things in this world that she could just do without but at this particular moment in time, everything simply seemed to be annoying her even more than usual. She wasn't willing though to admit the reason behind her grouchy mood over the last few days, not that it would have made a difference anyway. So instead of being cooped up in that conniving bastard's temple for one more second, the Warrior Princess had decided to take a small walk, a means she thought was going to clear her head. Boy was she wrong though and she certainly couldn't have predicted what was going to unfold either as she slowly made her way down the stone temple steps, pulling her black cloak around herself tightly to ward off the cold.

The woods around his temple were absolutely breathtaking at this time of year- the fresh fallen snow was covering the trees and ground in a stunning blanket of white. As she made her way through the newly fallen powder, heading in no specific direction, Xena couldn't help the long breath she had released, everything was just so beautiful...

After walking aimlessly for the better part of an hour, trying to get a certain someone off of her mind, Xena suddenly heard the sound of playful laughter in the distance. Although she knew that she should probably just ignore it, curiosity got the better of her and she soon headed in the direction that it was coming from. She stayed out of sight as she neared closer, peeking out from behind a nearby tree that was close enough to see and hear what was going on but far enough away not to be seen by the unsuspecting duo.

"Come on, Lena!" the man shouted out encouragingly as he waited patiently, "It's not that bad, you're going to love it!"

"I'm scared, Arius!" the girl shouted back, sitting on the top of the small embankment looking rather terrified at how unbelievably high it really was.

"There's nothing to be scared of." he teased, a light grin forming on his face with how frightened she actually was.

"That's easy for you to say!" she angrily yelled, not liking that he was enjoying her discomfort.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if anything bad happens…" he sweetly told her, holding his arms out open ready to do just that, "… I promise…"

It was as if that was all she needed to hear and after hesitating for a few seconds more, she soon slid down the mound on her rickety little wooden board. She shrieked out of excitement, the cold wind blowing hard against her face but her excitement was short lived when her board hit an unexpected bump and it knocked her off from the impact. Arius, seeing that things had taken a rather unanticipated turn of events, quickly reacted and as she came skidding down towards him, he moved into position and swiftly grabbed a hold of her as she tumbled into him, knocking him off of his feet and the two of them slid down the rest of the way together.

By the time they had reached the bottom, Lena was holding on to Arius for dear life, her head firmly nestled beneath his chin, her eyes shut tight as her body trembled from the fear that had gripped her as she waited for that inevitable doom. But despite what she thought was going to happen, she just felt the soothing touch of Arius running his fingers through her hair and she slowly pulled her head back to look at him. He had an amused look upon his face as their eyes met and he softly began to lovingly stroke her cheek.

"I told you, I'll catch you…" he whispered against her lips before capturing them softly with his own, "… I'll always catch you…."

After watching the display of the love that was clearly held between the pair, Xena rested back against the tree, not wanting to intrude on their private moment any longer. Observing the way that girl had put all of her faith into him with his simple little promise to catch her if something bad happened was hitting far too close to home for the Warrior Princess's liking . She herself had put that same blind faith into someone who had vowed to always be by her side…

That couple had undoubtedly spent Solstice together, and Xena couldn't help but picture herself in the same situation and for a moment while she had been watching them she could actually see it. It was made even more simple with how strikingly similar their names were to her own and she could clearly see the vision in her head.

In spite of how wonderful the thought might have been, it didn't change reality or the fact that she had spent Solstice by herself. She just couldn't believe it, that arrogant bastard had actually left her all alone on a day that was supposed to be spent with the ones you held most dear. She should have known better really and the foolish hope that he was actually going to come, she should have just banished it from her head the moment it started to rear its nasty little head.

That would have saved her the humiliation of putting herself through the embarrassment of actually making his priestesses prepare a small meal that she had planned to surprise him with. But after convincing herself to reconcile and putting on his favorite crimson dress, the one that made him have a hard time focusing when he saw her in it, he didn't even bother to show up.

She had sat there for hours waiting, listening to the snide remarks from his priestesses as they came in from time to time to see if she needed anything. She tried not to let it bother her though, not wanting anything to ruin this and frustratingly ignored them, anxiously clutching and unclutching the small gift she had for him, eager to prove those sleazy harpies wrong.

Nonetheless, after the candles had nearly melted all the way down, she finally realized that he wasn't coming and a lone unchecked tear had made its way down her face before she hastily wiped it away before anyone had the chance to see it.

Xena vainly tried to push the memory from her mind, that had been two days ago, the wound was still fresh in her heart and she certainly didn't want to relive it so soon. Hearing the couple's giggles once again, and finding the whole thing completely nauseating, she just groaned out annoyed and quickly started to head away from them.

How could she have been so stupid?! It wasn't like they were actually on speaking terms at that time, a heated argument had seen to that a few days prier on how she had changed their plans with how they were going to proceed with her army without his knowledge. But it was Solstice damn it, how could he have done that to her?!

"Where's the fire Warrior Babe?" came a bubbly voice a few feet away from her.

That had caused Xena to stop dead in her tracks, she was certainly the last person she wanted to interact with at that instant. She groaned inwardly, knowing that it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of her.

"What do you want **Aphrodit** e?" came her harsh question, turning around and sending the Goddess a not so pleasant glare for her being there.

"It's nice to see you too." she happily replied, not letting her sour mood get to her, she was planning on fixing that anyway.

"I don't have time for this." Xena firmly retorted , turning her back to her and getting ready to leave, not caring whether the Love Goddess had heard her or not.

But before she could even take two steps though, Aphrodite was there in front of her, swiftly stopping her little retreat. As the Warrior Princess was glowering at her, the laughter of that pathetic couple came flittering through the air once more and Xena just huffed out annoyed by it.

"Aaawww, young love…" she dreamily stated, holding her hand against her heart as she got a faraway look in her eyes, "… wasn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever seen?"

Xena just narrowed her eyes at her, so the Goddess had been following her, she didn't appreciate that very much. That only made her suspicious as to the reason for this visit, the last thing she wanted to talk about was Ares and least of all with **his sister.**

"I'm really rather busy so if you don't mind." she bluntly let her know as she once again started to head in the opposite direction from where the Goddess was standing but just as before, Dite appeared in front of her again.

"They are just so perfect for each other…." came her cheery remark, "… the way they have put their faith in one another…" she sighed out awe-struck, an irritating giggle of her own making its way out of her mouth, "… reminds me of another- even more perfect- couple."

Here we go, exactly the conversation that Xena didn't want to have. She just cast the Love Goddess a menacing glare, hoping that she would take the hint and just drop it if she knew what was good for her. But Aphrodite didn't let her little intimidating look scare her, actually it was making her a bit nervous but she had certainly came to her with a purpose and she wasn't going to let Xena frighten her out of it. The Goddess had been dealing with Ares for all these years after all, and a few threatening looks wasn't going to do the trick.

"So… where's the Stud Muffin?" she innocently inquired, discreetly looking around for a moment as if he was suddenly going to appear, already knowing the answer to that question.

"I don't know and I don't care." Xena growled out, turning from her for a third time but not before Aphrodite had seen the anger and then pure sadness that had formed in her eyes the moment she had mentioned him.

It was way more serious then she had originally thought it was. Ares was going to owe her big time for helping to clean up the gigantic mess he had made with his Princess. He had broken her heart into a million pieces when he refused to show up. The Goddess just couldn't believe it, she had watched Xena prepare her little surprise for her completely idiotic brother and she herself had been just as as excited to see how things were going to turn out. She had waited with equally, if not more baited breath for the War God to arrive. She thought it was just so sweet, how Xena was sitting there, looking like a princess, eagerly waiting for her prince to appear.

But as that worried frown started to form on the Warrior Babes face, the Goddess began to grow anxious too. What in the world could have possibly been keeping him? She knew that they had fought but she never would have guessed that Ares would dare leave her alone, especially not on this day. As that sadness slowly seeped into her sapphire eyes more and more, one that was caused from a broken heart, the Love Goddess quickly went to seek where her air headed brother was dwelling.

Hurriedly sensing where he was at, Aphrodite materialized in his throne room on Olympus, which was looking a little worse for wear, just to find Ares passed out drunk on his throne. That was how he had decided to deal with their little quarrel and the Love Goddess just shook her head with how he was acting like such a child. Only Xena could put him in such a state and she just couldn't help but think how completely cute it was. The powerful Olympian brought to his knees by a mere mortal woman. So unbelievably cute!

…Still, this was not just any woman, no….this was the one who had carefully managed to get Ares to give up the one thing that the Goddess was starting to think was impossible for anyone to do. The Warrior Princess had done it though, and she took it from him and now she carried it around with her and although Aphrodite was absolutely ecstatic about it, she also feared it in a way, because she knew that Xena truly held the power to destroy him.

With hast steps though, she made her way over to him and shook him roughly to try and wake him. When that didn't work- given that desperate times called for desperate measures- she had to take things to the extreme , so she silently prayed that he was too drunk to remember her doing it and she slapped him across the face and that snapped him right out of his slumber.

The War God had looked around a bit dazed at first, silently wondering just what had happened to his throne room and then a small smirk appeared on his face at the memory. His Princess was just such a spit fire and always made his blood rage wild throughout his body. After thinking of all the different ways that he could go about slithering his way back into her good graces, several reprehensible fantasies that ended up with them having to be alarmingly close to one another ran through his head and made that arrogant grin grow even more. About five minutes later, his eyes slowly turned towards the Goddess, finally taking notice of her.

"Hey Sis… what brings you here?"

"Don't 'Hey Sis' me." she sternly told him, shaking her head in disappointment, "Do you not remember what today is?"

"Um… should I?" he asked puzzled, the outrageous amount of wine that he had consumed was making his memory just a tad bit unreliable at the moment and he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about.

"Ares!" she whined, attempting to pull him up before things were really too late because she knew that once he saw her then his priorities would be set straight and she wouldn't have to kick his butt, he would be doing that all by himself.

Having succeeded in getting him to his feet- which was actually the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life and she had to resist the urge to cry when she broke a nail trying to lift him, all in the name of love, right..? she rapidly made a portal appear in front of him that contained Xena back in the War God's temple. She let out a satisfied breath, gosh who knew trying to keep a love from dying was going to be so physically taxing? The Goddess considered charging them for her services, the anxiety and stress it was causing her alone was irremediable, but with these two they needed all the help they could get.

"By the Gods…" he whispered out shocked, "… she is absolutely breathtaking…"

 **Mission accomplished** , no heartbreak was going to be happening on her watch and she patted herself on the back for a phenomenal job. But that congratulation was short lived with the next set of words that came tumbling out of her brother's mouth, right before she felt that unmistakable sting form within her chest.

"Why is she crying?" Ares suddenly asked alarmed, the image sobering him up faster than any remedy could as he noticed the way his darling Xena had quickly wiped away a stray tear before she got up and walked over to the hearth and threw what she had been holding into it.

"Oh no…" Dite murmured, turning her focus to the portal **and** her smile faded as she watched the Warrior Babe start to leave the room as her heart began to fall to pieces.

The Goddess had clutched her chest, not liking the terrible feeling that she was now getting. She had been too late after all and then she turned to Ares and swiftly hit him against the head, this time not caring if he got angry with her over it. He could be such an idiot sometimes and he was totally not her favorite person at that moment.

"Ouch, what was that for?!" he angrily asked, gently rubbing the spot where his sister had just hit him.

But he never took his eyes off of the portal while he stared on as his precious Princess walked out of the room. He could feel the hurt that was coming from her and somehow he knew that he had been the one to cause that.

"I screwed up, didn't I Dite?" he faintly questioned, already knowing the answer to that question as he felt Xena's pain.

He felt like he had just lost her forever and truth be told, it hurt like nothing he had ever known before. He wasn't sure how he was going to fix it, he wasn't even sure what it was that he had done but he was certainly going to try.

In response, she just shook her head sadly, why couldn't things just ever be simple with these two? Well, she did like a challenge and they had certainly made her work for her happy ending and by Rhea herself she was going to get that happy ending one way or the other. Nothing was going to get in her way, even if she had to tie them up together in the same bed for eternity until they reconciled then she was going to get it.

"Just leave it to me Bro…" she encouragingly stated, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer, "… I promise, you'll have your Warrior Babe back in your arms where she belongs before you know it."

As confident as his sister had sounded, somehow Ares knew that she might just end up making things worse but he was at a loss on how to even begin to mend things with his precious Xena.


	2. False Invitations

Chapter 2

And that was what brought us to our current predicament. The Goddess knew that the sting of a freshly shattered heart was something that wasn't necessarily easy to remedy. The Warrior Babe didn't even want to hear his name mentioned and getting her to comply with her request, well, she certainly had her work cut out for her, that was for sure. But there was no way that she was going to give up without a fight. Aphrodite knew that they belonged together and if they could just stop being so stubborn when it came to that certain part of their relationship, then they wouldn't have a problem.

Luckily for them, she considered herself to be pretty skilled when it came to this type of things. She wasn't the Goddess of Love just because people thought she looked absolutely amazing in pink. It really was a wonderful color though and her impeccable complexion mixed with that platinum blonde hair and a killer bod to die for was just the perfect, knock out combination. Sure, she liked to stare at herself for hours but she was completely focused to the task she had that she unselfishly decided to put that on hold for the day and by the time she was done with them, they were going to be thanking her big time.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed in an absolutely thrilled voice "Since Ares isn't around, that means you're available."

"For what?" Xena quickly asked her, already not liking what the Goddess was thinking at and if she believed that she was going to go anywhere with her, then she was sadly mistaken.

"Oh, you know… to have a little fun."

"Your kind of fun is not something I want to associate with." she sternly announced, dismissing her yet again.

"How do you know unless you give it a try?" Dite pleaded, materializing in front of her which only managed to get her another dirty look from the Warrior Princess.

"Once was enough." she hissed, pushing passed her annoyed as memories from the last time Ares had dragged her to one of the Goddess' little parties ran through her head.

That was something that she wasn't too keen on repeating and if she was to ever get her hands on the little nymph that had laced her wine, well, suffice it to say that the sneaky sprite would be spending what was left of her life in pieces. The psychotic fairy only managed to get away because Ares was too busy carving up the satyr who had decided to get just a little too physical with his Princess, placing his hands on her in a way that was much too intimate for the War God's liking while that desperate nymph tried to keep his attention elsewhere.

Needless to say, it didn't work of course because the Olympian's eyes were literally glued to his Princess the whole time from the instant she had whispered that she felt a little strange as she subtly nestled herself into the stack of pillows that they were sitting on, trying not to draw too much attention to herself. The room was already filled with way too many eager suitors that had quickly outstayed their welcome as they tried to get alarmingly close to her and she didn't want to give off any false invitations that would have made one think that she was interested as she relaxed there, trying to shake the fog that was rapidly clouding her mind but ultimately succumbing to it in the end.

Despite how determined the woodland creature was with capturing the Olympian's focus though, seductively running her hand along his chest and shamelessly sliding her leg over his lap to keep him from noticing the one that was going to keep the ghastly mortal woman distracted for the rest of the night so they could have some real fun, the moment that worthless goat man had even dared to lay a finger on his darling Xena, Ares made sure to show him just where on his body those horns of his really should have been growing as he ferociously tore them from his head and just as savagely shoved one into his throat and then the other into his chest.

Having brutally made a display of what was surely the fate of anyone who even thought of following in the foolish satyr's footsteps, Ares casually tossed the lifeless body to the side with a slight annoyance and then proceeded to gently lift his precious Princess into his arms. She stirred a small amount, burrowing herself comfortably against his chest as his unmistakable scent encased her warmly and she slipped back into her haze completely contented within the strong arms of the one who held her tightly. One soothing stroke through her hair and a protective kiss against her head later and they had soon vanished from their spot.

"Oh, come on!" came Aphrodite's hurt voice, snapping Xena out of the memory, "You can't hold that against me. You weren't in any real danger."

The Warrior Princess just scoffed at her, not really believing that she actually thought that and she was brushing it off as if it was nothing at all. Some friend she was!

"I wouldn't intentionally cause you harm, you know that… don't you?" she hesitantly asked, hoping that one of the best friendships that she ever had didn't just get destroyed from one tiny mishap that wasn't entirely her fault.

Hearing the distress that was in the Goddess' voice made Xena cease her steps and she let out a low sigh. Although she wouldn't have put all of her faith into Aphrodite, she wasn't exactly the most reliable person after all, she did know where her loyalty lied and Gods knew she wouldn't have purposely done anything to anger her brother either. And let's not forget the fact with the way Dite had been trying to brain wash her with the notion that she and Ares were her power couple, she couldn't really believe that the Goddess would have schemed something up like that. It just wasn't in her nature.

"You know as well as I do that Ares would have never let anything happen to you… He loves you too much to just turn a blind eye…"

Now that little comment made a snarky little chuckle escape from Xena's mouth. Who was the Goddess trying to fool with that line of garbage? He didn't care about her and the only thing he was worried about was that someone else was touching what he thought was his property.

"Trust me Warrior Babe, he doesn't let me forget what happened and I swear, on the head of Zeus, I thought he was going to lose his mind as he tried to figure out what was wrong with you…"

The Goddess had to shake that haunting memory from her head for a second, really not wanting to live through that again. The sight of Ares huddled worriedly over his Princess as he tried to get her coherent enough to figure out what she was given was heartbreaking. Not in a million years could she push out of her mind those vengeful eyes of his turned her way, the feeling of his harsh grip as he slammed her against the wall roughly, demanding to know where that tricky nymph had scampered off to and she really thought that she was going to end up dead and she would have too if it hadn't been for Xena's soft whimper that had captured his attention and just like that, she was the center of his world again.

"At least let me make it up to you." Dite begged, giving the Warrior Babe her best puppy dog face, surely thinking that was going to win her over, and no one was ever able to resist that.

"I'm not interested…" she firmly told her, rolling her eyes at the Goddess' pitiful attempt to try and persuade her.

That look wasn't going to do her any good, it wasn't the Love Goddess who she had a weakness for and Xena's resolve was a lot stronger to repel against it. Though she did wonder why she had such a hard time denying Ares when he would give her that same look. There was just something about the way his auburn eyes would look at her as that irresistible pout would form on his face, just completely annihilating any resolve she might have still had about whatever it was that he was trying to get her to agree to.

Watching the Goddess do it though, it was really rather cringe worthy and Xena really couldn't believe that she thought that actually got her anything. She was trying way too hard and that only brought up the thought that the Love Goddess was definitely up to something and she didn't like it one bit.

"If you keep that up, you'll give yourself more wrinkles." she cunningly stated, a devious chuckle escaping from her mouth with the way the Goddess' face turned to shock.

"You're lying!" Dite quickly shouted out a little too defensively, not believing what she said for a second but the thought was in her mind now and she couldn't fight back the need to check.

Without giving it another thought, the Goddess swiftly made a mirror appear in her hand and started to inspect her flawless visage in it. She anxiously let her fingers run along her face, scrutinizing every little inch of it as if she hadn't just spent hours doing the same thing before coming to visit her all-time favorite mortal. Just as she suspected though, absolutely fabulous!

There wasn't a wrinkle in sight and if she was being completely honest with herself, she was actually a little jealous of her own reflection. She was just so strikingly beautiful, oh how lucky those mortals were to be able to worship and gaze upon such a beauty as she was. It had to be illegal to look this good and Dite just couldn't help herself and she blew her mirror image a small kiss and her reflection blushed considerably from the gesture, giggling softly as she tried to hide her flushed face.

After indulging on herself for a time that seemed totally appropriate for the Love Goddess, she really was undeniably gorgeous, Aphrodite let her dreamy blue eyes look Xena's way for a second, twisting one of her perfect blonde curls around her finger and that was when she finally noticed that she had given her the slip. Her completely overzealous smile soon turned into a small frown when she realized what she did and she huffed out a small breath before quickly vanishing to find her.

The Warrior Princess on the other hand was quite pleased with herself as she headed through the forest. She knew that Aphrodite wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of staring at herself and once she got started it was nearly impossible to pull the Goddess out of her trance. She was just such easy pickings and an amused grin pulled at Xena's lips with thinking that she would probably be standing in that same spot for the rest of the day. Let's hope Gods didn't get frostbite.

As Xena started to head down a small path that would lead her back to the War God's temple, her smirk faded once she caught sight of the Love Goddess once again standing before her with her hands on her hips. That was odd, she thought for sure that she had gotten rid of her, looks like she needed to come up with new ways to get the Goddess out of her hair.

"Nice try, Warrior Babe." Dite nonchalantly stated, gazing at her nails for a few seconds and then turning her focus back to her as if the raven haired warrior's plan hadn't worked out as well as she thought it did. Did she really think she could outsmart **her out of all people**?!

"Get tired of yourself already, huh?" Xena asked unkindly, she was really getting bored with whatever game she was trying to play and she didn't want any part of it.

The Love Goddess didn't let her words affect her nonetheless, and she wasn't going to let her derail her carefully laid plans either. She knew she was just lashing out because she was hurt and she just cast her brother's flame a chirpy smile, determined more than ever to patch that fractured heart of hers back up.

"Sorry, Sweet Pea, but we're on a deadline." she informed her as she took a step in her direction and swiftly lifted her hand up.

"Don't you dare!" Xena shouted, taking a step back from her in the hopes of being able to eventually distance herself far enough away from the Goddess' powers but it was futile. Before she could even take another step back from the swirling vortex of doom, she was soon surround by pink sparkles and roses as she and the Goddess disappeared from the forest.


	3. Stabbing Pain

Chapter 3

After the less than effective attempt to get herself out of what she knew was nothing good, Xena and the Love Goddess soon rematerialized within her quarters up on Olympus where it seemed as though there was a lavish party going on. The Warrior Princess just shook her head in frustration, not entirely pleased with her new surroundings, and let her irritated gaze drop down towards the floor for a moment and that was when she noticed it.

Oh dear Gods, this just couldn't be happening and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she caught sight of herself. That underhanded Goddess had changed her usual outfit at some point during their little trip and now she was wearing a very upsetting looking dress. She cast Dite a hateful glare but the clueless Goddess just looked at her as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.

Was she just completely out of her ditsy blonde mind?! It was horrendous and had girly, rosy frill hanging all over the place. The dress itself, if she could have even called it that to begin with, was nothing more than a few straps of fabric that seemed to have been intricately strewn together to create this diabolical looking garment that barely covered her body in anyway. She basically looked like some tavern whore who didn't give a damn about modesty and who was essentially, ready to make herself a few dinars.

Judging by the several lustful stares that were now unabashedly directed her way, Xena gathered that was more or less the Goddess' plan with whatever insane idea she now had her involved in. This was just ridiculous; why couldn't she ever take no for an answer?

"Where in the world did you find this awful rag?" she asked distinctly displeased, barely touching against the material for a moment, only to cringe when she realized that it had some sort of sparkles on it.

She was in Tartarus, that was the conclusion she came to with what had happened. The Goddess must have snapped when she decided to kidnap her and now she was doomed to be tortured for eternity by wearing this horrible pink dress.

"Lighten up, Warrior Babe, that just so happens to be something from my own little private ensembles…. And you look absolutely perfect in it, just like I knew you would." Dite made sure to inform her, really not seeing why she was acting as though she wasn't the luckiest girl in the room.

There were plenty of mortal women out there who would have been a lot more grateful to be able to wear something that belonged to the Love Goddess herself and yet, Xena was standing there looking less than pleased with the outfit that she had spent several hours trying to pick out for her. She could at least show a little more enthusiasm, others would have surely jumped at this opportunity.

"Where are we?" Xena asked, but if she had to guess then she would say that they were at one of her temples judging by the many statues and sculptures made to her likeness that were scattered throughout the room.

"Olympus." she simply stated, a tiny smirk widening across her visage with the surprise that came across Xena's face.

She really did know how to show a girl a good time and by the time she had fully worked her magic , the Warrior Babe and the Stud Muffin would be as thick as thieves again. She was just so proud of herself and the genius solution that she had in store for them, she really couldn't wait to see her handy work in action- as always, her any idea was a spectacle in itself.

As for the Warrior Princess though, it was worse than she had originally thought. She really was in her own personal hell at the moment and right now all she wanted to do was ring the Goddess' neck. Just when she was about to give Aphrodite a piece of her mind as to what she thought of her little abduction scheme and what she could really do with this rag of a dress, she was suddenly getting some attention of her own from an eager suitor who was insanely suicidal as he ran his hand promiscuously along her backside.

"Hey…" came a low, dark husky voice next to her ear, but he never even got the chance to articulate his pathetic line because Xena had swiftly grabbed a hold of his hand and viciously removed it from her body, twisting his arm in a very painful angle as she grabbed him harshly by the throat to get her point across that she was in no way interested or appreciated the way he had touched her.

"You listen to me you little worm…" she cruelly growled against his ear, bending his arm further back, nearly breaking it as her grip around his neck tightened "… you ever touch me like that again, I'll cut off both of your hands and trust me, I won't stop there!" she hissed, glaring daggers into his shocked brown eyes and then shoved him roughly away from herself.

As she watched the man quickly scramble away, Xena rapidly turned her angry sapphire moons back to the Love Goddess who seemed to have just enjoyed the whole thing. She took a threatening step in her direction, a few despicable ideas running through her head of how she was going to hurt her and by the time she was done, Aphrodite would no longer be the Goddess of Love.

"You!" she growled, inching her way closer.

"Now calm down, Xena…" Dite half begged, backing away from her slightly with each deadly step she took towards her, realizing that even though she was the Goddess in this scenario, the Warrior Babe could still cause her some irremovable damage.

"This really isn't that bad if you would just let yourself enjoy it." she stated nervously, flashing her a bright smile, "Who knows, you might just find what you are looking for while you are here."

"I'm not looking for anything! All I wanted was to be left alone!"

"Sorry, Hun, no can do, that's not part of the plan."

"For what?!" she asked angrily, already getting tired of this little charade.

"You'll see." the Love Goddess warmly stated and then hesitantly wrapped her arm around the fuming Warrior Princess and was extremely relieved when she didn't tear it off immediately.

Xena just sighed out defeated, really not having another option since she was in fact stuck here until she was able to figure out another way to get herself free.

"Do I really have to wear this?" she asked a few seconds later, really not wanting to be walking around in that outrageously looking dress any longer then she had to.

"I for one think you look absolutely adorable in it, but if it bothers you **that** much…" Aphrodite grumbled, still not believing that Ares had rubbed off on Xena to this extent that she couldn't expand her horizons just a little when it came to fashion and with a simple way of her hand, the outfit slowly began to change into something she just knew it would be more to her liking.

Before long, Xena was now wearing an elegant black strapless formal ball gown with elaborate silver roses along the bodice and sweetheart bust. Now she really looked like a fairy tale princess and the Goddess silently congratulated herself for such a stunning result. She would have much rather preferred a different color, but much to her disbelief and she would have denied it to anyone immediately, the Warrior Babe and that dress were just a perfect match and black had never looked more appealing to her before.

She was surely going to capture the attention of everyone in the room and the Love Goddess had a feeling that a certain stubborn War God was going to be stumbling all over himself once he caught sight of her. Now where was he, she thought to herself. She knew he was around here somewhere and he did say he wanted to know immediately when his Princess had arrived and she faintly let her eyes scan the room a moment trying to find him.

For once, the Warrior Princess was left speechless in a good way as she looked down at herself. It seemed that maybe Dite wasn't so completely out of touch with reality as she would have liked others to believe. The dress was absolutely gorgeous and Xena really didn't know what to say about it as she softly smoothed her hands over it and a small smile began to pull at the corner of her mouth. When she looked back up at Aphrodite though- who was just gazing at her with this magical look in her eyes, she just made Xena's smile fade and now she felt completely ridiculous with the way the Goddess was looking at her.

"What?" she asked annoyed, fidgeting with one of the ruffles along the skirt as a means to have something to do other than being the Goddess' amusement.

The Love Goddess didn't answer her though and she just continued to stare for a few more seconds, just marveling at how enchanting her brother's flame really was. Her completely airheaded brother was definitely not going to know what to do and then she started to head away from her, really hoping that she would be able to find Ares soon. The Warrior Babe shouldn't be left alone for long and if he hoped to sweep her off of her feet with his irresistible charm then he didn't have a second to lose before someone else tried to win her over.

"Where are you going?" Xena quickly asked, not believing that after having forced her to be here she was ditching her.

"Things to do, Warrior Babe, things to do." she cheerily stated, "You don't think things go off without a hitch just because I throw them do you? Well, actually they do but I still have to put up an appearance."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Mingle a little… It won't kill you and I'm sure there is someone out there that will catch your eye." she muttered, hoping that the one who would catch her eye would be Ares.

Before Xena could say anything else, Aphrodite had quickly disappeared within the crowd and she just stood there really not knowing what to do. So she just cast her eyes around for a moment, seeing the few admirers that had graciously shown their appreciation with a long, lustful once over that didn't go over very well with the other woman that they were trying to court. Not paying any attention to it though, Xena slowly made her way through the crowd, really just wanting to find a quiet place that she could seek refuge in until the Goddess decided to take her back to the mortal plain.

As she continued through the sea of people, and after being roughly bumped into by a pair that was eagerly trying to find their own little secluded place to take harbor in, that was when her eyes caught sight of something else. She thought she was seeing things at first and she quickly turned her gaze away from it while she tried to shake it from her head. Though she knew that it was probably better to just walk away and act as though she wasn't affect by it, the need to torment herself was just rising and she looked again.

Slowly, her void of emotion sapphire eyes turned back to the opening in the crowd and that time there was just no mistaking what she was now looking at. It was like her eyes were glued to the sight, unable to look away and powerless to get her feet to move as she observed every movement with disheartened eyes in detail.

And there she was, feeling it again, that same stabbing pain within her chest that she had felt two days' prier and had worked so hard on expelling it from her body but it came roaring back with a fierce passion as she watched the scene unfold out in front of her.


	4. Bad Ideas

Chapter 4

This had to have been the dumbest idea that Aphrodite had ever come up with. It didn't make any sense to him and Ares wasn't exactly sure how having a party was ever going to fix anything between him and Xena. After the haze that he had seemingly put himself in had finally worn off, he had finally realized though what he had done wrong and he completely hated himself for it. He didn't actually mean to leave her alone, damn Bacchus' wine for being so good!

The War God had in fact had the whole day planned out as a way to win her back after their not so pleasant disagreement. Sure, she might have still been upset from the encounter and knowing her the way he did, there was always the high possibility that she didn't want to see or have anything to do with him but still, the Olympian was pretty confident that once he started to charm her then there was no way that she could have resisted. In fact, he was more than positive that they would have still been reconciling right now if it wasn't for that completely unforeseen mishap with the wine.

And yet, now that he thought about it, he didn't even remember drinking that much to begin with but apparently Bacchus was packing some pretty powerful stuff this go around. He tried to think how he had come into possession of the liquid in the first place, but was drawing a blank, some after affects he supposed and now he was on the verge of losing everything that he held dear.

After Dite had shown him what Xena had attempted to do with her own little idea of how to be on neutral ground again, it made him feel like even more of an asshole. Watching her seem genuinely excited as she set out to make sure everything was to her liking as she ordered his priestesses around to have things ready for him and then seeing how that eagerness slowly seeped from her eyes as the day grew on while she waited for him, that tore the War God up more than he would have liked to admit….

He was certainly going to be minus a few priestesses too with the way they had treated his precious Princess. All those nasty comments they had made under their breath, intentionally speaking bad about her and in his temple no less, the thought simply enraged him. They were all going to die gruesomely, they just wait until he got his hands on them. Nobody talked about his Princess like that and especially not in their home.

Initially, Ares had planned to cunningly worm his way back within his Princess' personal space by charmingly seducing her like he always did when they fought and he screwed up, but his sister had wisely cautioned him against it. Two days later, he was nowhere near being close to Xena again like she had gone on and on about. Keeping tabs on her over the last few days was agonizing and the need to just go to her was becoming overwhelming with each passing second but every time the thought to just forsake Aphrodite's little plan came to mind, she seemed to hastily show up and convince him from doing just that….

Letting out a long frustrated breath, he just sat there annoyed and tapped his fingers against his leg anxiously, impatiently gazing around the crowded room for the slightest hint of his Princess. This had better work out flawlessly. The War God was really counting on Dite to come through for him and he was only taking her advice because she knew more about this love crap than he did. He wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do when he saw her and Aphrodite was supposed to tell him when she got Xena here. Although he had questioned her about it constantly of what she planned to do exactly, his sister only reassured him that she knew what she was doing and not to worry about a thing….Right….as if that were ever an option…

Having cast another long look around the room, Ares wasn't so sure that she knew what she was doing after all. He was no expert on the matter, and he had certainly never put any effort into this sort of thing before, but this didn't exactly scream at him as a way to go about fixing that rift that was now between them. His darling Xena hated this crap and given the last time he had talked her in to coming with him to one of Aphrodite's parties, Ares was less than pleased to see his sister's genius solution to the problem, it was no wonder he had serious doubts about the fact that whatever his ditsy sister had planned was ever going to work in his favour.

This was the one thing he didn't want to screw up and he just knew that despite the obvious lack of effort that his sister had taken, the Goddess might just do that and cost him everything in the process. He just sighed out warily, putting his head in his hands and shaking his head regretfully, really not believing that he had put something that was this high in importance into her hands. This wasn't the way to go about making it up to his Princess, but what else could he do?

"Can I be of assistance, My Lord?" came a soft voice, snapping the War God out of his train of thought.

"Get lo…" Ares started to yell angrily, but seeing the gorgeous woman that was now before him, his words didn't quite make it all the way out.

He had let his gaze run over her approvingly, definitely liking what he was seeing as his eyes roamed their way up her luscious body. She just smiled at him eagerly, blushing a little under his intense stare as she waited for the War God to respond, greatly wanting to be the one that helped relieve that tension within him. As his eyes continued to wander, the red head took that as a good sign and slowly made her way closer to him and took a seat down beside him, wasting no time in closing in that unnecessary space that was separating them.

Ares' gaze was immediately drawn to her ample bosom, that concoction of a dress barely providing a sufficient amount of coverage for her well-endowed chest and after some serious concentration on his part, his auburn eyes gradually made their way up to hers. They were blue, the kind that would have made any man fall under their spell with a simple look, holding just enough mischief behind them to keep him interested not to mention that they sparkled with a not too hard to identify need which only caused a naughty smirk to appear on his face.

Given the condition of what she was subtly offering and that she was giving off all the right signals as her hand leisurely wandered its way to his knee, it was her eyes that put him off. In spite of the fact that he could have very well had her racy moans flowing out of her mouth within an instant while fucking her desperate pussy wilder then she could have ever thought imaginable, Xena would have been none the wiser either, the thought of looking into those blue eyes and not seeing the same fire that he had come to crave while he and his Princess made love was something that he just couldn't fathom and he was entirely shocked with his own decision.

"Not interested." he coldly informed her, roughly removing her hand from his leg while his mind screamed at him that this wasn't a good idea.

"But you seem so tense." she whispered against his ear, lightly running her fingers up his arm while his eyes drifted back down to her breasts.

She was not at all dissuaded with his dismissal, if anything, it only appeared to make her even more determined because she had never met a man who had turned her down yet. She enjoyed the hunt and this was going to be her greatest conquest of them all, an Olympian! It didn't take her long to notice the way that he was hungrily looking at her, watching while her breasts were slightly rising and falling with her every breath.

"I'm sure I can help relieve the pressure…" she purred, lightly running her palm along his cheek as she moved to kneel down behind him, her hands skillfully moving under his vest, softly kneading his strong shoulders, "… you won't be unsatisfied."

Although every warning bell was going off inside of his head, his Princess was bound to be here any minute, that did feel amazingly good and despite himself, he actually relaxed into her touch. It wasn't the same to what he had grown addicted to, where as his Xena's was warm, firm, passionate, but yet at the same time gentle… this woman's was cold, a bit too rough as it felt like she was trying to remove his flesh from his bones and emotionless. Subconsciously, he knew this was not what he really wanted, it wasn't who he wanted and soon thoughts of his beloved angel filled his head and a warm smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction and thinking that he was enjoying her ministrations, before Ares realized what she was doing, the red head had succeeded in removing his vest and had situated herself into his lap, straddling him as she continued to rub against his skin. This time though she didn't just dwell on his shoulders but she eagerly ran her hands along his strong chest, feeling his bulging muscles beneath her palm.

There was no stopping the slight gasp that escaped her mouth while she ran her palm along his torso – she obviously longed to feel just how powerful he was as she leaned forward and placed a kiss against his chest. Thinking that she had him, she wasted no time in subtly placing his hands on her hips and then started to leisurely rock herself against him as she seductively continued to drag her nails along his torso.

Her movements were slow, deliberate and had all the right motions meant to enslave their victim. She mewed and moaned low in his ear, brushing her breasts against his chest and causing a low groan to form in his throat from the combined sensations. She knew when a man wanted her and she grinded down against his crotch more slowly, purposely dragging out the movement as she felt the bulge in his pants begin to respond.

Another lustful moan escaped from her lips at the feeling, her hips continuing their rhythmic rotations against his lap. She seductively started to roam her hand against her own body, slowly letting her palm trace along her curves as she glided over her breast and softly towards her waist and then leisurely made her way back up the War God's body, causing another low groan to form in his throat.

To say that the War God wasn't interested was a bit of an understatement as his eyes roamed over her tantalizing body eagerly. Her erotic movements were absorbing him more and more and her blue eyes were haunting him every time she flashed them his way. He couldn't help but think of his darling Xena doing this to him, feeling her mouthwatering body moving against his while she captivated him with a simple touch- and his body simply stiffened at that idea alone.

Feeling the way his grip had tightened a small amount around her waist, she knew she had captured him and she was only a matter of seconds away from claiming her prize with having the War God fuck her and she had every intention of getting what she wanted as she roamed her hand down between their bodies and started to softly rub against his cock.

What the fully determined girl didn't know, was that it was something else entirely that had seized the powerful Olympian's attention in a way that she could never hope to do. He was drawn to it immediately and as fate would have it though, his auburn eyes connected with a set of shattered sapphire's before he was quickly pulled into a heated kiss.


	5. Worst Timing

Chapter 5

She was frozen… completely cemented to where she stood as she felt her heart being splintered into a million pieces before being cruelly ripped from her chest. The pain was unbearable and she truly thought that if she had just looked down then she would have seen the remnants of what was left of it as the bits and pieces laid scattered out for all to see.

But she couldn't bring herself to look away no matter what as the red head crawled her way into the War God's lap. Was this some sort of joke, a way to humiliate her more than she had already been? There was no way that he did not know that she was there. She was barely ten feet away from him and they had certainly picked up on each other's presence from farther distances than this. Nonetheless, what really jabbed that knife further into her chest was the low lustful groan that she heard rolling its way out Ares's throat.

He was enjoying it and it was all so clear for her now of why he never showed up the other day. She was such a fool, stupidly going through all that effort to try and plan something special for them when the War God was in fact indulging in far more sensual acts to even be bothered with such petty gestures. She felt the tears prick at her eyes as she watched the woman's hand roam between their bodies but she would be damned if she was going to let them fall. He didn't deserve her tears and he certainly wasn't worth her time.

As soon as the thought ran through her mind, their eyes met for an instant. What was only the matter of three seconds felt like an eternity for both of them as they each stared at the other. Just like that though, the Warrior Princess was cut off from those auburn eyes of his as those two nauseating lovers came together in a passionate kiss, completely turning her stomach into knots the moment she witnessed it.

If she had doubts before, then there was no denying it now. Ares definitely knew that she was there and not wanting to be a witness to this diabolical copulation, Xena quickly turned away from them and headed back into the crowd, determined more than ever of finding herself a way off of this accursed mountain.

In the meantime, the War God had violently shoved the red head away from himself and quickly let his eyes scan the immediately area for his Princess. In that short amount of time of him losing sight of her, she had managed to disappear the little witch. He had messed up big time there was no denying it though and he knew it. She just had the worst timing in the world and why didn't Aphrodite tell him that she was here?!

"What's wrong?" the woman asked, moving closer to him again and letting her finger run seductively along his chest.

Ares grabbed a hold of her wrist harshly, turning his flaming eyes towards her and tightening his grip. She winced from the pressure, attempting to pull her arm away from him but there was no breaking his grasp as she stared into his raging moons. As much as the War God would have loved to filet this useless whore, he needed to find Xena and she wasn't worth another second of his time but he didn't like for one minute that she had a hand in causing that rift between him and his Chosen to become bigger.

He cruelly wrapped his hand around her neck, pulling the sleazy bitch closer to himself and she desperately tried to get herself free from him.

"You've just hurt someone that I care about." he growled menacingly, constricting his hold even more and causing her to gasp for every breath.

"No… n-no… I… didn't… d-do… anything…" she choked out, her eyes widening more in fear as his malevolent eyes stared into hers.

Her blatant denial did not sit well with the Olympian nonetheless and he squeezed a little harder, completely blocking off her air supply. After struggling against his hold for a few more seconds, she finally passed out from her lack of oxygen and Ares just shoved her roughly away from himself. He immediately turned his focus back to the room, a worried frown appearing on his face as he searched the area once more and when he came up empty, he took a deep breath to calm himself and then closed his eyes and searched for Xena.

It took only but a matter of seconds for him to pick up on her location, there was nothing in this world that could have stopped him from finding her no matter where she was and he swiftly vanished to where he sensed her to be. During his voyage through the ether, Ares thought that it might just be better to allow her to calm down before seeking her out. But he had seen her eyes and he had felt her pain and how that pain had turned into something that he didn't entirely enjoy feeling coming from her or knowing that he was the cause of it. He was more than positive that he was the last person she wanted to see and he was silently cursing his sister's name for everything.

If that airheaded Goddess would have actually used her brain for once- in a proper way too- then none of this would have happened. He was supposed to be winning his Princess back but yet he had just shoved her further away and he was angry at himself for causing the whole situation between them to begin with. That and the fact that he was dumb enough to have put his faith into the ditsy Love Goddess as to actually think that she would have pulled through for him made him want to find his sister and string her up.

Making an effort to push the thoughts from his mind, Ares started to materialize behind his Princess who was hastily making her way through the room of crowded people. He reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm, focused on getting her to hear what it was that he had to say. He was completely taken by surprise when, though he supposed that he should have expected such a reaction coming from her, she was just so full of fire after all, his darling Xena turned around and delivered a wicked punch to his jaw as she ripped her arm out of his grasp.

Not completely expecting the blow, it had its desired effect and it sent the War God stumbling backwards a few feet, knocking him into a couple of unsuspecting patrons whose attentions were immediately drawn to the altercation.


	6. Kiss This

Chapter 6

"Don't touch me you soulless bastard!" she snarled, sending that two timing worthless excuse for a War God a menacing glare.

"Ok… I might have deserved that…" Ares mumbled, slightly rubbing against his jaw as if she had actually managed to cause some serious damage- a moment in which Xena really wished she could have physically hurt him somehow. She hated him so damn much and all she wanted was for him to hurt just as much as she was. The biggest mistake she had ever made in her life was putting her faith into him. What made everything worse was that she knew that she shouldn't actually care but that son of a Bacchae had dug himself so deeply within her that it was impossible to get him out no matter how hard she had tried to do it.

But she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a fight, a meaningless way to goad some sort of a reaction out of her and the Warrior Princess knew that the best course of action was going to be the one that he least expected since he could probably sense just how upset she was. Words would just stroke that already way too large ego of his and the best thing that she could do was to just forsake him- and that was precisely what she did turning her back to him and proceeded to just leave him standing there looking a bit agape by her reaction. Ares cast a small look around for a moment at the bystanders who were also softly whispering their surprise with how his Chosen had decided to blatantly dismiss him as if he was nothing more than a pathetic mortal who wasn't worth her time. Where did she think she was going? She just couldn't walk away from him like that, he wouldn't allow it.

Before she could get any further away though, Ares rushed to close the gap between them and grabbed her harshly by the arm and spun Xena around to face him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he hissed out lowly, staring intently into her completely distraught sapphire eyes before she had quickly covered it with hatred.

"Wherever you're not…" she growled back just as heatedly, "… I don't like to dwell in the company of scum." were her cruel words, each one landing in its desired target while she tried to once again pull her arm free from his iron tight grasp.

It was no wonder that it didn't come as a full shock though when she felt the cold, fierce, brain scrambling slap that connected with her cheek as the War God struck her, swiftly knocking her off of her feet from the disorienting blow with the power he had put behind it. Several small gasps were heard collectively around them as Xena softly rubbed against the side of her face, glaring daggers at him as she slowly made her way to her feet again.

One tight, rough grip around her arm and the War God was cruelly leading her to a more secluded area from the hundreds of prying eyes that were directed their way. He was practically dragging her across the room, barely giving her a chance to find her footing by the time they reached that hovel of a corner he had swiftly pushed her roughly into, paying no attention to just how hard he was holding her as his fingers dug into her skin more brutally when she tried to shove him away.

Her resistance only came with another harsher slam against the marble wall, making her feel as though she was seeing stars for a moment before she quickly shook it from her head. Her cold blue eyes connected with his equally as angry auburn ones and Xena just pushed against his chest again, determined to break herself free and ultimately wanting to forget anything that had to do with him.

"Would you just listen?!" Ares growled savagely, shoving her back yet again but this time not as roughly when he caught sight of just how tormented her eyes were for a moment.

"There's nothing that I want to hear from you." she hissed in her turn, venomously, continuing to struggle against his hold in her vital attempt to distance herself from him as much as possible.

"That wasn't what it looked like." he soon continued, not caring that she was fuming mad at him.

A flabbergasted look came across her face with his words. Wasn't what it looked like?! There was certainly nothing wrong with her eye sight and she had seen plenty to tell her what it was exactly that was going on with him and that whore just a few short minutes ago. He must have been completely out of his mind if he thought that she was going to believe anything that came out of his manipulative, treacherous mouth.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she stated, both out of silliness and shock because she really couldn't believe that he had just said that to her.

"No, I'm not..." he softly whispered, lightly running his fingers down her cheek for a moment and reveling at feeling her silky skin after so long before she harshly shoved it away.

She smelled absolutely delicious and having her so close to him again was making the War God want her desperately. That little foreplay they just had a few seconds ago had stirred his desire for her madly but then again, his insatiable need to have and be near her never seemed to ever want to be sated.

"So… what you are trying to tell me is that she just tripped into your lap and you were only catching her with your mouth out of the goodness of your heart…?" she snarled, completely forgetting not to show any emotion to that heartless, worthless bastard.

As she was wisely trying to cover up her little slip, Ares had seen it flit across her sapphire eyes nonetheless. She was jealous and his darling Princess had never looked sexier to him then when she was going all alpha in her not so subtle attempt to express that he was hers. The thought made him shiver, and the imagery of Xena asserting her dominance over him as she shoved him down roughly while she straddled him and then fucked him to kingdom come to remind him that there just wasn't anyone else who could compare to her raced through his head wildly as an arrogant smirk formed on his face.

She may have told herself otherwise and definitely wanted it to be true and he was pretty sure that she tried to convince herself of it every day, but she was just as infatuated with him as he was captivated by her. As far as he was concerned, they had already spent enough time apart and it was about time that they started to reacquaint themselves with each other again and stop dwelling on such insignificant matters that didn't really mean anything to begin with….For him, it was as simple as that…

Even though she was completely furious with him, Xena couldn't help the way her body responded when Ares started to softly run the tips of his fingers along her arm. Her every nerve still craved him desperately and she scolded herself harshly for it and then turned her fuming eyes back to his but seeing the clear desire that was held within his auburn orbs for her had set her blood on fire.

The War God was shamelessly roaming his gaze all over his Princess' luscious body. Feeling the way she was completely worked up and his own anger made him want nothing more than to fuck her wildly right there and then. She looked absolutely stunning in that dress and the bountiful view of her cleavage made him want to run his tongue playfully along the tops of her breasts before finding that much wanted reward that was kept just out of sight beneath the fabric. He could feel her blood pounding maddeningly within her veins as he traced along her collar bone and there was no ignoring that small intake of breath she took when his fingers dipped down to the valley of her breasts.

Within seconds, Ares had promptly wrapped a possessive arm around her waist, pulling her flush up against himself so there wasn't an inch of space left between them. Her heartbeat had picked up from the sudden movement, her chest heaving and it was quite a distraction as his eyes stayed glued to her breasts before he finally drifted his gaze along her throat. That racing vein was just within his reach of feeling and Ares slowly leaned in closer to his Princess, determined to make her forget what had happened and to think about nothing else but the thought of him sliding deep within her while he possessively claimed her over and over.

Needless to say, it was no wonder he didn't entirely factor in that perhaps his ministrations weren't working out quite as well as he would have liked them to. He might have seen it coming if he himself wasn't so lost within her.

"Kiss... this…" she murmured through clenched teeth and then swiftly brought her knee up and it made contact with his groin, granting her that much wanted freedom that she had needed from the War God as he doubled over from the pain.

She knew that if she had felt the alluring touch of his lips against her skin for even the slightest moment, then she would have given into him and she wasn't going to allow herself to do that. His hold that he thought he had over her wasn't as strong as he would have liked to believe and Xena was more than determined to show him that not only did his charms fail to work with her, but that she was better off without him. She didn't even spare a glance back as she walked away from him, leaving the War God there in his brief moment of discomfort to stare at her retreating form.

Meanwhile, another pair of interested eyes had watched the display with vast attentiveness. The fiery raven haired woman seemed to be quite a handful and had peaked their curiosity of learning just a little more about her. He was fairly impressed with the way she handled that Olympian.


End file.
